Community leaders in Santo Domingo demand government action

Community leaders and transport workers in the Santo Domingo metropolitan area are calling on the Dominican government to address various socio-economic issues.

In Santo Domingo Este, representatives from the Prado Oriental and San Isidro Neighborhood Associations met with EdeEste officials to discuss persistent utility problems. Residents reported high electricity bills, frequent and prolonged blackouts, inadequate street lighting, and insufficient transformer capacity. Additionally, community members raised concerns regarding alleged corruption, including reports of repair crews demanding payments to resolve faults and the unauthorized sale of materials to users. EdeEste representative Yisel Portes committed to managing solutions for billing issues and reported outages.

In Santo Domingo Norte, transport leaders and community organizers expressed frustration over unfulfilled campaign promises. Transport workers highlighted the instability of fuel prices and argued that government subsidies for the sector have not reached all unions fairly. They contrasted these struggles with the large-scale subsidies provided to major private corporations and free zones. Furthermore, community leaders in Villa Mella reported that high costs for basic goods, unemployment, and rising insecurity, including frequent robberies, are severely impacting local families.